I have not seen anything suggesting that said investments are highly conditional or designed to keep the recipients dependent on them indefinitely.

There are examples of them writing off unpaid debt in favor of completing the projects to maintain a good relationship with the countries they are working with. They don't seem to do this lightly, and sometimes it's only the interest, not the entire loan, but it does happen. This difference in approach can be easily picked up in western media as well despite them often moving goal posts and not telling the entire story of IMF loan programs compared to BRI programs.